Cleaning Oil Residue from Barrel

So simply you fill up the 55 gallon barrels with water, add about 3 lbs of PBW, let it sit for a day, then dump and rinse it?

I have no way to heat up four, 55 gallons of water, so ambient temperatures will have to do.

I have ordered 12 pounds of it. I was able to get for under $30 Cdn for four lbs of the Five Star PBW on Amazon, which is cheaper than the $45 for four pounds at the brewery shop.

My barrels are also plastic barrels last containing olives. I power washed them, used dish soap and bleach, but did not get all of the olive smell out of the barrels.

No, no. That's way too much. Just mix 1-2 oz per gallon of water and dump it in the barrel. Maybe use 2 gallons of water total. Mix it up in a bucket and pour it in your barrel. Rock the barrel around so the solution hits all the surfaces. Give it some time with some occasional sloshing to keep all of the inside surface wet and the alkaline will do its magic. Rinse well.

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Originally Posted by SeanD

No, no. That's way too much. Just mix 1-2 oz per gallon of water and dump it in the barrel. Maybe use 2 gallons of water total. Mix it up in a bucket and pour it in your barrel. Rock the barrel around so the solution hits all the surfaces. Give it some time with some occasional sloshing to keep all of the inside surface wet and the alkaline will do its magic. Rinse well.

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Thanks, that is a big difference. I may cancel my order with Amazon and pick some up at the beer making store.

Would you ever use PBW to clean up sap from pots, or steam pans, or tubing?

It needs to be rinsed out really well, so definitely no on the tubing.

It's good on stainless, so it's okay to use it on the steam pans. Again, rinse really well.

For sap pots, do you mean your buckets on trees? You won't really need it. Most people give their buckets a good cleaning at the end of the season. You can give them a rinse and wipe pretty quickly during the season, but they mostly start to get funky towards the end of the season when things slow down and they sit in the warm sun all day. If you are talking about aluminum buckets, make sure they won't react with the PBW if you do use it.

The PBW arrived today and I cleaned out the four barrels. I used 3 gallons of hot water from the tap, and likely more than I needed of the powder. They all look very clean so far, I will know better when they completely dry. There is still an ever so faint olive smell in the barrels. I don’t know if that ever goes away, but I will do the PBW wash one more time to be extra sure.

I also made one platform to hold two barrels and will make another platform for two barrels later this week.

Weather permitting, I will be doing the second and hopefully final cleaning of the plastic 55 gallon barrels, last containing olives, using the PBW again. Assuming that they come out totally clean and no longer have an olive smell, do you put the lids on and don’t open them again until sap season, or do you have the lids on, but slightly ajar so that air can get in and out of them?

Thanks

I would leave them open to the air. Upside down on a pallet in your garage or shed. Then all you need to do is a quick rinse with water for any dust that may have gotten in and you are set to collect.

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Originally Posted by Pdiamond

I would leave them open to the air. Upside down on a pallet in your garage or shed. Then all you need to do is a quick rinse with water for any dust that may have gotten in and you are set to collect.

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Thanks! I will take your advice and store them upside down, open to the air, on a skid, in a covered shed.

They all look clean. Two have no olive smell, one has a very, very faint smell and the fourth has a faint, but noticeable olive smell. I will fill the last two with water and let them sit for a few days, then do another PBW cleansing. I will get there.

I filled the barrels with water and let them sit for two days. I dumped the water out today and then had my wife smell them for the first time. They past the smell test. Now to store them until sap season.